Man commits bank robbery in hopes of healthcare in prison
By Virginia SmithJune 21st, 2011, 2:15 pmComments (9)
In a move that seems to be equal parts desperation and publicity stunt, a North Carolina man attempted to stage a bank robbery in order to be arrested, and thus gain access to free medical care in prison.
James Verone, fifty-nine, headed to a local bank where he slipped the teller a note "demanding one dollar, and medical attention," a demand so small that it turned out not to even garner a charge of bank robbery. Instead, Verone will be charged with "larceny from a person," and has already received medical attention.
Verone personally contacted his local newspaper with the story and readily identifies as a supporter of socialized healthcare, and says of his time in prison that he skips dinner to minimize the time he spends with other inmates, but "has no regrets about the robbery or where it landed him."
It might easy to write the whole thing off as a politically-motivated stunt, but personally I feel for this guy. Decent health coverage is still way too hard to come by, and you'd have to be awfully desperate to resort to something like this.
Comments ( 9 )
In the small village I come from in Scotland, the village drunk and the village thief were one and the same guy (I said it was small). He would in his later years always pull some stunt in late November or early December, making sure to get caught. The court system would then oblige him with yet another three-month sentence, so he spent Christmas and the coldest part of the year in a nice warm cell with three meals a day, instead of his run-down freezing cold house.
Wonderful. Someone may steal this for a short story.
I keep meaning to do an OS posting about him. He was an amazing character (though on some of his worst days just an obnoxious drunk). Some of his larcenous schemes are legendary for their creativity. Sadly most of the older people of my dad's generation who remembered many of them are already gone.
I would read his memoirs.
I think it's been done. Otis on the Andy Griffith show.
This saddens me to the core.
Definitely a sign of the times. I remember watching a short documentary type report on this one man who had schizophrenia and went in and out of prison. He had a better life in prison because he had security and had treatment and therapy sessions. When he was not in prison he was homeless and in the town he lived there was no way for him to get a job or a leg up partly because of his disability and because it was difficult for any homeless person.
How. Fucking. Sad.
I can empathize with this guy. I was laid off 16 months ago. Haven't been able to get work at even entry-level retail or food-service jobs like Target or Wendy's because they'd rather hire a 17 year-old kid who doesn't ask for Health Insurance.
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